Let us read Matthew 16:18, the eighteenth verse of the sixteenth chapter of Matthew:
And I also say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Then 1 Corinthians 12:28: “God hath set some in the church.” God hath set some in the church.
Galatians 1:13:
For ye have heard of my manner of life in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and made havoc of it.
Ephesians 1:22:
And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church.
Ephesians 3:10:
To the intent that now unto the principalities and the powers in the heavenly places might be made known through the church the manifold wisdom of God.
Ephesians 5:23–32 is all about marriage and what it symbolises and signifies. Again and again, you find the word church: “Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself up for it”; “This mystery is great: but I speak in regard of Christ and of the church.” It is the church that is in view there.
Colossians 1:18:
And He is the head of the body, the church.
Verse 24:
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up on my part that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His body’s sake, which is the church.
Lastly in this series, 1 Timothy 3:15:
But if I tarry long, thou mayest know how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God.
The second series is on this term, the churches. If we go back now to Acts, the actual word churches is used approximately thirty-five times in the New Testament.
Acts 14:23:
And when they had appointed for them elders in every church—
Every church, plural.
Acts 15:41:
And he went through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches.
Acts 16:5:
So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.
The churches increased in number daily—not only believers daily, but churches increased daily. Tremendous.
Romans 16:4 speaks of “all the churches of the Gentiles.” Verse 16 says:
Salute one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ salute you.
In 1 Corinthians 7:17, Paul says, “So ordain I in all the churches.” In 1 Corinthians 11:16: “Neither the churches of God.” In 1 Corinthians 16:1, he refers to “the churches of Galatia,” and in verse 19, “the churches of Asia salute you.”
Then 2 Corinthians 8:1 speaks of “the churches of Macedonia.” Verses 18 and 19 refer to a brother whose praise in the gospel is spread through all the churches, and who was appointed by the churches to travel with them. Verse 23 calls certain brethren “apostles of the churches” and “the glory of Christ.”
Galatians 1:2 is addressed “unto the churches of Galatia.” Verse 22 says:
And I was still unknown by face unto the churches of Judaea which were in Christ.
In 1 Thessalonians 2:14, Paul says:
For ye, brethren, became imitators of the churches of God which are in Judaea in Christ Jesus.
Lastly, Revelation 22:16:
I Jesus have sent Mine angel to testify unto you these things for the churches.
That is very interesting, because it means that the whole book of Revelation—the Apocalypse—was given for the churches.
Then you will see a third series: the church at. Just a few verses only here.
Acts 11:22 says:
And the report concerning them came to the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem.
The church which was in Jerusalem.
Acts 13:1 says:
Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there—
The church at Antioch.
Romans 16:1:
I commend unto you Phoebe our sister, who is a servant of the church that is at Cenchreae.
Then 1 Corinthians 1:2:
Unto the church of God which is at Corinth.
There are a number of others; we will leave those.
The fourth series has to do with Revelation 1, 2, and 3—the first three chapters of Revelation. If you turn to those chapters, you have the three things we have talked about here.
First of all, you have the church: the church, if you like, in its totality—in the sense of the church on earth, but the church through the centuries and generations of this age.
Then we have seven churches selected. You must all realise that the Lord could have sent a message to every church existing at that time, and there were thousands and thousands of churches. Why did the Lord choose seven? Why not twelve? Why not nine? Why not four? Why choose seven?
Most of you, I think, know that numbers have symbolic value in the Bible—in the Old Testament especially, and, of course, in the New, because it was a Jewish way of doing things, a rabbinic way of doing things. The figure seven is the symbol for totality, completeness, fullness—everything there. Seven days of a week: a complete week. It is absolutely complete.
So you have seven churches selected from the province of Asia, and these seven are selected to represent the totality of the church—in other words, the church in its completeness, in its fullness, in time on earth.
Now, someone might say straight away, “Well, how do you know that?” Well, if you look at Revelation 3:1, we read:
These things saith He that hath the seven Spirits of God.
Someone says, “Oh, I am not sure about that. They were surely literally seven churches.” Of course they were literally seven churches; we know that. But the fact that seven was selected—the accent is not on the literalness of the seven, but on the symbolic value of the seven.
We all know that it would be an absolute blasphemous heresy to teach that God has seven spirits. God has only one Spirit: God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit—three in One and One in three. But the seven Spirits of God are the Holy Spirit in all His fullness, indwelling the seven churches.
That is the glory of it: the Holy Spirit indwelling. Just as there is only one church because there is one Christ, so there is only one Holy Spirit. But the one church is divided into seven here, and the one Holy Spirit is divided into seven, if you like, in this sense.
I have put down a number of Scriptures for you to look at. Revelation 1:10–13 says:
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it to the seven churches.
It then gives the names of them.
Verse 12 continues:
And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And having turned I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the candlesticks One like unto a Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about at the breasts with a golden girdle.
If you look further down, of course, it is the Lord Jesus Himself. He is in the midst of the seven churches. It is a picture of the church in its completeness and fullness in time, with the Lord—the presence of God—in the midst of them, walking in the midst of the seven.
Then you have the churches. In Revelation 2:7 we read:
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
Again, in verse 11:
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
The same phrase occurs again in verses 17 and 29; then in Revelation 3:6, 13, and 22.
In other words, you have this term, the churches. Why did not the Lord say, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the church”—to the church in Ephesus, for instance? But He does not. He says, “to the churches.”
Then you have the church at. Revelation 2:1 says:
To the angel of the church in Ephesus write.
Verse 8: “To the angel of the church in Smyrna.” Verse 12: “To the angel of the church in Pergamum.” Verse 18: “To the angel of the church in Thyatira.” Then Revelation 3:1, 7, and 14 continue in the same way.
So you have three things:
There is one other series at the bottom here. I am not sure that we really have the time, because already our time has gone, but in this last series I have put down for you Scriptures to do with the church as the bride and city of God.
Revelation 21:2, 9, and 10 links the bride and the city as being synonymous. In Hebrews 12:22–23 you will see the church. It is not directly said there that it is the church, but in Hebrews 12 you find the church; and in Ephesians 5 you find the bride. Here the city is called “the church of the firstborn,” and there the bride is the church.
Compare that with Revelation 22:16:
I Jesus have sent Mine angel to testify unto you these things for the churches.
And compare it with Revelation 1–3. In other words, the whole book of Revelation is to be seen against the context of the church and the churches. You must understand it like that. If you do not, you fail to understand.
The Lord’s last words were, “I Jesus have sent Mine angel to testify unto you these things for the churches.” Then the very next words are:
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come.
The churches and the bride are linked together.
You find it again in the words, “He that overcometh.” The message to every one of the seven churches in the first three chapters of Revelation ends with this clarion challenge—clarion call, if you like—“He that overcometh” shall inherit this, or that, or the other. Seven times the Lord says that.
If you look at Revelation 21:7, you find that the city of God, the New Jerusalem, the bride, is linked to overcoming in the churches:
He that overcometh shall inherit these things.
So, in order to be in the bride of God and part of the city of God, one has to overcome within the sphere of the churches. I hope that is just a little introduction.
This evening, I am going to launch straightway into the sixth point I want to make in these studies of Why Are You at Halford House? The sixth point is this:
God’s one and only method of expressing the church, the body of Christ, to the world is the local church.
Now I will repeat that again:
God’s one and only method of expressing the church, the body of Christ, to this world is the local church.
There are two terms used frequently in the New Testament. The first is the church, and the second is the churches. These are the terms that you find again and again. We have read through quite a number, though we have not exhausted the number of them by any means. We have just selected a certain number.
Now, the church speaks always—always, when you get the term the church, you have to understand it by the context—of the body of Christ universal, worldwide: those still on earth and those already gathered in glory. It is a term that covers all ages, all parts, all times, and all peoples.
In the present age, and indeed in all the ages of time, it is invisible and intangible. Let us say that clearly. It is the church of God: eternal, indivisible, and one.
Then you have another term, the churches. This term speaks always of the church in its practical expression on earth—that is, the church tangible, visible, concretely expressed in time on this earth, in a given locality or given localities.
All that is meant by the term the church is expressed and manifested locally. Now, does not that lift this horrible little term, the local church, onto another level altogether? That is God’s idea.
The local church is not something petty, something sordid, something merely earthly. God’s idea in the local church is that it is there alone that everything in the eternal church is to be expressed. If divine life is to be obtained as well as expressed, the principles that govern the eternal have to operate in the local. It is as simple as that.
Before we can actually come to the point, it is important to recognise that the churches are the one church represented and expressed in different places. I want to make that point very, very clearly.
It is the one church. There is only one church. The church is not the aggregate of churches; it is not the sum total of so many churches. Look at it the other way around: the churches are the church expressed. Then you have got it. You must not look at it the other way. The churches are the one church expressed in all the different places on earth.
If you turn to Acts 15:3, we read:
They therefore, being brought on their way by the church, passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles.
We might well ask, what is this term, the church? It is not a particular church, yet it is the church in time and on earth in localities. It is only one church. All the way through Phoenicia and Samaria, they went from church to church to church; but Luke, Dr. Luke, puts it like this: it was the church that brought them on their way. There is only one church, expressed in the different places.
You have it again in Acts 9:31. There is a very real difference in the Revised Version, the American Standard Version, the Revised Standard Version, and the New English Bible, from the Authorised Version. In the Revised Standard Version it reads:
So the church throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria had peace.
It is never “the church of Judaea and Samaria,” but always “the church throughout.” In other words, only one church expressed in all these churches through this area. It is only one church divided into these places.
If you turn to 1 Corinthians 1:2, we read:
Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, even them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, their Lord and ours.
It is only one church. It just so happens that the believers at Corinth were in the church of God which was at Corinth, but they were actually one with all those who call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place—with all the other churches. It is only one church. Do you understand? It is quite simple once you start to see it.
The simple fact that governs the division of the church on earth into churches is the absolute oneness of Christ. He is absolutely one. There are not lots of Christs; there is only one Christ. He is indivisible.
There is only one Christ, and this simple fact absolutely governs the division of the church into churches, since Christ is everything in the church. He is all in the church—“all and in all.” It is one body, one Christ, one body.
Whether it is Jerusalem, Caesarea, Antioch, Thessalonica, Rome, Philippi, Richmond, Linz, Oslo, New York, or Shanghai, it is only one Christ. There is not a different Christ in Tokyo from the Christ in Richmond. There was not a different Christ in Thessalonica from the Christ in Jerusalem. He was precisely the same Christ.
There was not a different body of Christ in Rome from the one in Thessalonica. There is only one body because there is only one Christ—one body. If it is the one body in Rome, it is the same body in Jerusalem; it is the same body in Ephesus; it is the same body in Richmond, thank God, all these years later. It is the same body in Tokyo, Shanghai, and Oslo. It does not matter where you are: it is the same one Christ.
Nevertheless, because of obvious physical limitation, we cannot all assemble in one place. I think that is obvious to everyone, and there is therefore the need to do something.
The Scripture says in Hebrews 10 that we are to provoke one another unto love—a very strong word:
Not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another; and so much the more, as ye see the day drawing nigh.
In other words, the nearer that day comes, the more careful you ought to be about the assembling of yourselves together. But how can we all assemble together? We are only one church, but we cannot all assemble in one place, can we? It would be absolutely ridiculous if the millions and millions of Christians were somehow all to come together. We could not all get into one building.
So, because of obvious physical limitation, the Holy Spirit has seen fit to divide the church by only one means: geographical locality. He divides the church with the minimum division—where you live, where you are resident. It is quite simple.
There is a need for us to assemble together, is there not, for mutual building up? How can millions of Christians build one another up? We can listen to Billy Graham, but how can we build one another up in such a meeting? For mutual building up there has to be some kind of fragmentation, some breaking of things up into smaller units, so that there is a workable unity in which everyone can build one another up—where there can be spiritual interchange and intercourse, where there can be true fellowship.
Otherwise, everything must be abstract and vain. We can all talk about the most wonderful and blessed fellowship when a million Christians gather together, and so it is. It would be marvellous and wonderful. We had a taste of it even at Earl’s Court, just in the thousands that came together there. But it must remain very vague and very abstract, and believe me, we can escape all kinds of issues in that kind of fellowship.
There is also a need for prayer—for executive prayer and executive action. How can we pray in an executive way if there are a million of us? We cannot get down to business if we have a prayer meeting with a million people there. It is marvellous and wonderful, but it is not practical. Why? Because we have not yet got glorified bodies. Up there it will all be different, but down here we are in a different dimension.
We have to recognise this physical limitation. The human mind is not made to be able to take in millions of people in a prayer meeting. Actually, I think our prayer meetings are just about getting to the extent to which the human mind can take in the number. You see what I mean? It is an intensely practical matter, this matter that we are talking about tonight.
It is not only that there is a need for executive action. How can millions take action, rising up together and really hitting on the head some sickness, some illness, or some bond? Of course they can do it, but they would have to spend all their time doing it, would they not? They would not have time for anything else if everyone had to bring it to a central authority for the whole lot to hear.
The thing would become absolutely unwieldy, like a bureaucratic state. Of course, God is not a bureaucrat. That is the glory of it.
Then again, you and I need to be able to meet together for witness and service—not just to be lost in a huge crowd, but to be able ourselves to fulfil the words, “Ye shall be My witnesses,” and to serve the Lord as priests. There is also the matter of discipline. If we all were to meet together, the matter of discipline alone would mean that the elders of this huge number would, I should think, be in an eternal session disciplining people. It is impossible.
I have spent a little time being almost childlike because, you see, this whole matter is absolute simplicity. Purely for facility, purely and merely for practical government, practical discipline, and practical corporate experience, the church is divided into geographical localities.
If you look at Matthew 16:18, we have read:
Upon this rock I will build My church.
There you have the church worldwide and universal: those in glory already, those on earth, in every clime, every part, and every age.
But now turn over to Matthew 18:15. How can you bring a matter like this to that church? Listen:
And if thy brother sin against thee, go, show him his fault between thee and him alone: if he hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he hear thee not, take with thee one or two more, that at the mouth of two witnesses or three every word may be established. And if he refuse to hear them, tell it unto the church.
Now, you know what that means? It means that somewhere or other, the church—“My church,” built upon this rock—has to be concretely expressed in some locality.
Let me tell you this: however weak and failing that church expressed in time and in locality may be, when a person brings a matter to that church, the whole eternal church is involved. It is as simple as that. You cannot make divisions.
That is why the apostle Paul could say, “I am there in spirit; I have already judged him.” He was not even at Corinth, but he said, “I am there.” The whole lot are there, because it is the church. But how can you bring a matter to the church if there is no such thing as the church being broken up into what we call geographical localities?
Here is the wisdom of God. Make no mistake about it: it is absolute divine wisdom. Oh, the Lord is the past master at understanding the devious ways of our hearts. Devious they are. He understands you back to front, from top to bottom. He understands what lies in the deepest depths of your being, which you do not even know or understand. The Spirit of God searches it all, and He knows all about it.
In His wisdom, He has trapped us. Anyone who tries to get out of this trap, woe betide them, because however spiritual they may appear to be, much of it is artificial and will one day be shown up to be so. The Lord has wisdom in this matter.
What does this all mean? If you go on in Matthew 18, it says, “Tell it unto the church.” If he refuses to hear the church, let him be unto thee as the Gentile and the publican. Then the Lord says:
Verily I say unto you, What things soever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and what things soever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
The church in heaven says, “Ratify it.” If a church on earth, in a locality, says, “This thing is bound,” the church in glory says, “Amen. It is done.” What things you loose on earth are loosed in heaven. It is one church.
Why, in our business meetings Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are actually all there. Quite remarkable, but they are all there. You do not know whether they will ask us any questions one day. But the whole set ranks of the saints are involved—the church of the firstborn—all involved in it all, because we are only one church.
We just happen to be here in 1968, in Richmond. But the thing goes right back to when the God of glory first appeared to our father Abraham. That is where it all began. Of course, the full glory of the revelation of the mystery of the body of Christ was only given after Pentecost.
We must be careful of digressing. Let me put it another way. If I had lived in Ephesus, I would have been in the church at Ephesus. If I had lived in Thyatira, I would have been in the church at Thyatira. If I had lived in Rome, I would have been in the church at Rome. It was only one church—the same church. It just so happened that where I lived, that was where I was in the church.
It was really the church of God. If I live in Richmond, I am in the church of God which is at Richmond. If I live in Linz, I am in the church of God which is at Linz.
To which church did the apostle Paul belong? The fact of the matter is, he belonged to the church. When he was at Ephesus, he was in the church at Ephesus. When he was at Thessalonica, he was in the church at Thessalonica. When he was at Antioch, he was in the church at Antioch. He was not a member of the church at Antioch on missionary work. There was only one church.
I have often puzzled it out when I am in an aircraft. When I am in an aircraft, I am just in the church. It is as simple as that. It may seem a bit stupid, but if it brings home to you the truth of the whole thing, I would be glad.
There were never two churches in one locality. It was always the church at Antioch, the church at Ephesus, the church at Philadelphia, and so on. Never do we read of “the churches at Antioch,” or “the churches at Philadelphia.”
Even when the believers at Jerusalem numbered thousands and there was no adequate central meeting place to house them all, it was still “the church which was at Jerusalem.”
I would like to show you this, because people say, “Oh, we are living in the twentieth century. If you brought everyone together in such-and-such a place, there would be thousands and thousands of them.” Well, this was a New Testament problem.
Look at Acts 8:1:
And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church which was in Jerusalem.
The church which was at Jerusalem.
There was tremendous persecution, and they were all scattered all over the place. Ah, but just wait. It was still the church of God which was at Jerusalem before that persecution took place.
Go straight back to Acts 2:41:
They then that received his word were baptized: and there were added unto them in that day about three thousand souls.
They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and the prayers.
Verse 46 says that, day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple, they met together. There was their central meeting place—not a very sympathetic place, perhaps, but in the temple. Every day they met in the temple to fellowship together, the whole lot of them, breaking bread from house to house.
Then Acts 4:4 says:
But many of them that heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.
I reckon, if we judge the figures faithfully, there must have been ten thousand of them there—just at the minimum.
Then Acts 6:7:
And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem exceedingly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
Then Acts 8:1 again speaks of “the church which was in Jerusalem.” There must have been something like twelve or fifteen thousand believers in Jerusalem until the persecution scattered the majority of them, leaving a much smaller group still numbering some thousands.
Is it not an interesting fact that it was never at any time called “the churches which are at Jerusalem”? Throughout the whole New Testament it is always called “the church which is at Jerusalem.”
Now someone will bring up the three references to “the church which is in your house,” or “the church which is in their house.” There are three of them: 1 Corinthians 16:19, Romans 16:5, and Colossians 4:15.
People will immediately say, “Surely this destroys the whole thing.” But it does not at all. First of all, note that one of the places mentioned is Ephesus. Aquila and Priscilla were wealthy people—what we would call today factory owners. They had their own tent-making business and evidently a big home, probably with a very large area for making carpets, tents, and saddles. Tentmakers were carpetmakers as well as saddlemakers too. It was a very big business.
Therefore, they may well have had a very large area; we do not know. But in one of those references—I think it is the Corinthian one—Paul sends the greetings of the church which is in their house. It could easily and conceivably be that the church which was at Ephesus was still meeting in Aquila and Priscilla’s home, because that house could have taken the church at that point. So that does not invalidate the argument at all.
The other reference is the Roman one. Again, it is Aquila and Priscilla, that most extraordinary couple, husband and wife. They had gone off to Rome and had another big home somewhere there. They were the two who took Apollos aside and instructed him more fully in the way.
People say this shows that the church at Rome must have numbered many more than could fit into their home. There are two points about this. First, it does not say that Aquila and Priscilla were actually resident in Rome; it could easily have been in a place outside Rome. Rome was the main metropolis of the day.
On the other hand, even if it had been so, Rome was the biggest city in the old world and numbered about a million people. It was like Copenhagen today, or Birmingham. Even if the church had been split up into four, five, or six groups, it would still have been “the church which is in your house.”
Suppose I had written a letter from Jerusalem. I might have said, “The church of Jerusalem, which is at Jerusalem, meeting in so-and-so’s house, send greeting.” This would not mean that the whole church of Jerusalem, numbering twelve thousand, was meeting in one sister’s house. It simply means that in that particular district all the believers were meeting in their home. So it does not invalidate the argument at all.
The other reference in Colossians is to Laodicea and Nympha—or Nymphas, according to the margin; perhaps a lady, perhaps a gentleman. It says, “the church which is in their house,” or, in the margin, “her house.” We are not quite sure.
This does not necessarily mean anything contrary to what we have said. It could be the church which was at Laodicea meeting in Nympha’s house, or Paul could be referring to some other smaller place. We do not know. But what we can say is that it does not invalidate what we have said.
We ought to note another point: whenever the plural churches is used, it is always used of an area or a region consisting of a number of towns or villages, and never of one city.
We never, at any single place in the whole New Testament, read of “the churches at Rome,” “the churches at Thessalonica,” “the churches at Athens,” or “the churches at Alexandria.” We never read that.
We do read, for instance:
We could go on and on. The plural is always associated with areas or regions in which there are a number of localities.
Personally, I believe this matter is the simplest, most rational matter in Scripture. I must say that I think any fool ought to be able to see it. I am therefore amazed, knowing the number of fools that have been saved, that there is not greater clarity amongst Christians on this matter. It is quite extraordinary, the sheer absolute blindness there is when it comes to this simple, rational matter.
Let me put it again: the only division of the church recognised and allowed by God in the Scriptures is geographical—that is, locality.
See 1 Corinthians 1:1–2: “the church of God which is at Corinth.” Now compare that with Titus 1:5:
For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that were wanting, and appoint elders in every city.
Do you not think it is extraordinary that the apostle Paul did not say, “Appoint elders in every church”? But he does not. It is elders in every city.
Then look at Acts 14:23, where we have precisely the same phrase:
And when they had appointed for them elders in every church.
It seems so clear to me. The church is synonymous with the locality—the city.
That leads me to this question: what do we mean by locality? What do we mean by locality?
We answer in this way: it would seem from Scripture that it was an administrative unit—as simple as that. Not a regional unit, not a national unit, but a local administrative unit.
In other words, civil authority is recognised in this matter. Where there is Philippi, a definite civil administrative unit; or Ephesus, a civil administrative unit; or Jerusalem, a civil administrative unit—that is recognised as a locality. Simple again, is that.
Obviously, in New Testament times the matter was far, far simpler because localities were defined. There was none of this highly urbanised society in which we live. Even Rome, which was the greatest of all, was nothing like anything we know.
They did not face the problem of a huge area where one town had spread and spread and spread and swallowed up a whole number of others—such as London. You can read books in the library that speak of going by horse through meadows and fields from Richmond right up to St. Martin-in-the-Fields. The city began farther on; that was Westminster.
New York, Tokyo, and Los Angeles are modern cities, but those in the New Testament did not face this problem of highly urbanised areas that had grown and swallowed a whole number of places into them. Nevertheless, let us say this: the principle holds good in general.
In such cases as London and other places like that, the people of God must seek the Lord’s mind as to how this principle applies—not prejudicing the principle, not putting aside any principle, but seeking the mind of God as to how it applies in our twentieth-century condition.
There are exceptions, of course, to the rule, and we have to face that. But we cannot be too dogmatic in stating that any division of the church other than the geographical one into localities is not of God and must result in disruption and disintegration.
Therefore, anything that calls itself a church which covers less than a locality is not a church, and anything which is more than the locality is not a church either.
Now, the foundation upon which a church is built is Jesus Christ alone. That is the foundation. There is no other foundation.
We do not build on history or tradition, however marvellous; nor do we build on teaching as such, nor even on experience as such, or experiences as such. We build upon the foundation which is Jesus Christ, and Him alone.
But this matter of the foundation being Jesus Christ is neither abstract nor vague. It is absolutely concrete. It is the foundation which is Jesus Christ alone, as found in that particular locality.
I cannot stress that fervently enough, vehemently enough. It is the first fundamental in the practical outworking of the church. Until the Holy Spirit finds such a recognition on our part of this matter—that the foundation is Jesus Christ as found in our locality—He will not commit Himself to corporate building work under any circumstances whatsoever.
I do not care where you go in the whole world: you will not find any corporate building where this is not recognised. Now, I am not talking about personal building up. I am not talking about personal increase to a measure. I am talking about the actual building together that we read of in the New Testament, which for most Christians is a myth, a legend, a fairy tale.
“Marvellous, the primitive church. They had all things in common. They had a belonging—they belonged.” It is something that everyone thinks happened in the beginning: a fairy tale, legend, primitive, prehistoric.
Why does not the Holy Spirit commit Himself in this matter of knitting people together, of forming people into one? Of course, we need to grow out into the whole body, but unless He gets this simple matter of foundation clear, He will not commit Himself. He keeps it all as a work and blesses people individually here, there, and everywhere.
I am not very old, but what I have seen in my little experience bears out exactly what I say. It does not matter how great a vision there is or how far people have gone: if this simple matter of Christ as the only foundation in a particular locality is not recognised, the Holy Spirit will not commit Himself.
That is why there is such a dearth of church building, even where the headship of Christ is known to a certain degree. The Lord has to lead us to this matter.
Now we come to the point. This matter of the local church is vitally important. Why? Because it is the only way God has ordained that the church should be and can be expressed to this world.
Indeed, it is the only way this world can see Christ in His oneness, His fullness, and His power. He will never be seen in the same way in an individual. But when He builds people into the body, there is such a power—you cannot explain it.
Strangely enough, the world touches it, and they will say, “What is different about that crowd?” It is not just the preaching; it is not just the place. There is some mysterious difference they cannot explain. What is it? It is the presence of the church.
If you turn to John 17:21 and 23, you will see the Lord says:
That they may all be one; … that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me.
And then:
That they may be perfected into one; that the world may know that Thou didst send Me.
Compare that with John 13:34–35:
A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another.
In other words, it has to be seen. And where is it seen? It is seen in the local church.
I want to say one or two hard things here. This spiritual unity in Christ that we have been talking about—the church of God—ought to have visible and tangible expression on this earth in time. That is what we mean by the word churches.
Why is it so often held, indeed so generally held amongst Christians—and it is an extraordinary thing, the more spiritual you are, the more it is held—that spiritual things have no visible expression, no tangible expression?
I often hear people, who I am sure have not thought, tell us about the wind:
The wind bloweth where it will, and thou hearest the voice thereof.
Concrete expression. You do not know where it is coming from or where it is going, but you hear it and you can feel it. People do not think.
May I ask why God came in the person of Jesus Christ? Not only did He limit Himself to a human body. Was the Lord Jesus a spiritual Man? Was He all that of heaven? Of course, you say. Yet He was a Man like you and me. He was a carpenter. He made tools. He ate. He lived. He breathed.
All His spirituality was concretely expressed in terms of flesh and blood. The apostle John makes a point of it later when he says:
That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we beheld, and our hands handled, concerning the Word of life.
The eternal life which was with the Father has been manifested unto us. Concrete expression.
If we were to apply this idea—that spiritual things have no concrete expression, that they are somehow invisible and intangible—to conversion, to new birth, to spiritual birth, to sanctification, to godliness, and to the true faith, where would we be? We would be an utter mess.
Why? Because the Scripture says, “By their fruits ye shall know them.” When a person is converted, we expect to see a change. Indeed, we always see a change. It is not merely that we expect it; we learn to know it. Something happens.
They may still be in their old clothes, unshaven, and still down and out, but there is a light in their eyes. We all say, “What has happened?”
I remember one lad at a conference. I should not take time to tell you, but he was introduced to me by a rather overzealous sister, on the understanding that I should give him the gospel—the works, the whole lot.
I took one look at this poor bleary-eyed boy, and I thought, “Oh, what?” I looked at him with all the compassion I could screw up, and I said to him, “If you wish to talk about these things, my room is number so-and-so. Otherwise, I should not bother.”
He went on. I could not possibly have talked to the poor kid when he had been dragged more or less by the hair into such a time. However, he came along to some of the meetings. There he was, all skew, looking very sort of as if he had been in a scrum on the rugby field, which he played quite regularly. Obviously, not a thing was going in.
Then, at the Lord’s Table, I noticed a difference—a most extraordinary difference. It was not his tie; he had got one. It was not his vest, which could be seen by all present. It was not his clothes; they were just the same as before. But there was something in his very face.
I was trying to place it. I thought, “Something has happened to that man.” Afterwards, I went up to him. What had happened? He had been converted in his room.
There was a tangible, visible change. We expect it in such things. I think all evangelicals would say this. We expect it in the matter of sanctification. Everyone who talks of sanctification and has nothing in their life is wind—hot air.
If we cannot apply this idea of spiritual things being vague, abstract, unseen, invisible, and intangible to these things, why should we, in God’s name, apply it to the church and to the unity of God? We have absolutely no warrant whatsoever.
It is true that this oneness of Christ is essentially a spiritual, inward, organic matter. Yet it must have concrete, visible expression. This is the whole point of the local church.
God’s one and only method of expressing the church, the body of Christ, to this world is the local church.
Everything is applied in down-to-earth, very down-to-earth terms and circumstances in the local church. All that talk about oneness, all that talk about victory, all that talk about fullness—the Holy Spirit is so faithful. He brings it all down to earth in the local church and tests it.
Sometimes we are almost afraid to open our mouths, because it is tested, tested, tested all the time. But thank God for the testing. It removes all the pseudo things, all that is artificial, all that is superficial, all that is taken on like a chameleon from others. They lose it all because everything is applied in the sphere of the local church.
Everything has to have concrete expression. It does not matter what it is; it has to have concrete expression. This is of tremendous importance, for true spirituality is not a matter of abstract theory, unworkable ideals, or impractical attitudes.
This simple geographical division of the church into churches is utterly rational and so practical in its nature. It not only expresses but preserves the oneness of Christ.
Let us say this: the church—its unity, its cohesion—will never be expressed by worldwide movements, affiliations, federations, or councils, such as the ecumenical movement, the World Council of Churches, or things like that. It will never be expressed by that.
It will only ever be expressed by believers in each locality leaving all that divides, and all that is not the local church and never can be, and taking the ground of the body of Christ.
The local church is therefore three things:
We will end on these three things.
First of all, it is inclusive. It covers and includes every born-again believer in its locality, whatever their condition. It brings all together in Christ in that place.
Whatever their race, whatever their nationality, whatever their social class, or spiritual measure and understanding, every child of God resident within the boundaries of Richmond upon Thames belongs to the church of God which is at Richmond.
There is no question of Danish, Chinese, Malaysian, or American visitors. If any of the natives of these islands should feel that way, you can be sure you will paralyse the work of the Holy Spirit, because the church is not a matter of visitors. The church is the church.
It is supranational, supraracial. We are the church. Whilst you are resident here, you are not a Dane, a Norwegian, a Scot, a Welshman, or anything else. You are a Christian, and you are a member of the body of Christ with as much right to be here as someone who was actually born in Richmond.
Let me put it another way. The church cannot be exclusive of anyone who is a child of God, except on certain grounds: discipline, apostasy, and heresy.
You will see in the notes that you have been given a number of references. I want you to look them up because some people say, “Where is there in Scripture actual ground for every believer being in the church?”
I have given them to you. Romans 1:7: “all the saints that are in Rome.” Philippians 1:1 is the classic:
To all the saints in Christ Jesus that are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons.
In other words, it is the church.
Then 1 Corinthians 1:2: “the church of God which is at Corinth,” those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who call upon Him in every place. I have also given you Ephesians 1:1 and Colossians 1:2. It is inclusive.
Wonderful, is it not? The foundation is Jesus Christ; the ground is locality. So simple. Once you have got that, you have flung, as it were, around us all a kind of lasso. You cannot get out.
The second thing is that it is representative of Christ. What do I mean? I mean it is representative of Christ in that locality. It represents Him there.
It is not there to propagate peculiar or particular emphases or tenets of its own. It is simply the local church. It is simply, and profoundly, the body of Christ—the church of God in that city, town, or village.
That does not mean to say that a church does not have an emphasis. Just as every one of us differs, so all the churches differ. They are not uniform. But there is a vast difference between having an emphasis—having something to give because of the way that particular company of children of God in that locality has gone—and existing to propagate specifically and exclusively certain teachings, experiences, or something else.
In this matter of the church being representative of Christ locally, may I say how glorious that is? If the Lord tarries and we are here next Thursday, the last of these days for the time being, I would like to speak a little more on this very matter, because I feel it is very important.
Suffice it to say this: it is the most glorious calling that any of us could possibly have—to represent Christ in an area. How glorious that is. It means that the Lord commits Himself; He commits His authority. He commits Himself to us because it is the church, not because we are everything.
That is what is so amazing. You get an elite group of people, but the Holy Spirit will not commit Himself. Get a weak lot of ground, with every kind of failing, and the Lord commits Himself. Then you scratch your head and wonder what it is. But it is a matter of the church, because the Lord is there and represented there.
Note in this connection that in Scripture the churches are never associated with any name or title other than of God, of Christ, or locality. Churches of God, churches of Christ, or the locality.
In 1 Thessalonians 1:1 it says, “the church of the Thessalonians.” In Colossians 4:15 or 16 it says, “the church of the Laodiceans.” Even more remarkably, in Revelation 1:11 it says, “Write … to the seven churches: unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna,” and so on.
The Lord actually calls the church by its locality—not anything else. Not the Apollonian, not the Corinthian, not the Lutheran, or anything else. No, He says, “To Richmond. To Ashford. To Italy.” It is amazing.
Lastly, it is responsible locally. Whilst the local church must ever remember that it is part of the whole family and seek to maintain that church consciousness, the primary responsibility of the local church is its own locality.
It has inherently within its very constitution, as it were, a worldwide commission and vision. Any church that loses that loses something right in the very fabric of its being, at the very heart—the warp and woof—out of which it is made: a worldwide vision and commission.
But never think that God lets you escape from your responsibilities by serving the interests of God on the other side of the globe in an abstract way. That is the whole point of the thing. He brings us right there.
How do we discharge, first of all, this worldwide commission and vision? By discharging our responsibilities locally. By doing that, we are discharging it.
That is why the Lord said:
Ye shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
We are responsible locally. There is a solemn note, for it means that we, as a company, will one day stand before God and be held responsible for this area.
So I think you see: the local church cannot be national, cannot be denominational, cannot be sectarian, cannot be exclusive, and cannot be a propagator of certain truths or aspects of truth.
It is the church of God, the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is found at a locality.
The vital importance of all that we have spoken about this evening—and I believe it is vital, I really do—can be seen when we realise that God’s purpose at Pentecost was that Christ should continue to be seen and expressed on earth through His body.
The enemy has struck very effectively at the one and only method God had of expressing the Lord Jesus corporately through the ages to the world. What a battle there has been over this matter.
Now, the Lord help us.
Dear Lord, we commit ourselves to Thee. We pray that Thou wouldst give us that spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Thyself. We need it, Lord. Otherwise, all this will just be theoretical knowledge, head knowledge.
And, Lord, in this particular subject, perhaps more than many others, Thou knowest it is so possible. But we ask, Lord, that we shall see the thing, and see it in its relationship to true spirituality, to true godliness, to overcoming, and to the bride of the Lamb.
We ask, dear Lord, that Thou wouldst help us in all these things; and we ask it in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.